Published July 16, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.
Dr. George Kenneth Stoltenberg passed away on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, surrounded by his family and friends.
George was born Schuyler, Neb., on October 18, 1951, to Kenneth and Betty (Primbnow) Stoltenberg. After a carefree childhood, George became blind at 13. He left home to attend the Nebraska School for the Blind. He then attended Midland Lutheran College, graduated cum laude and received a Danforth Fellowship. He attended Indiana University, graduating with a PhD in clinical psychology. George completed an internship year at Duke University Medical Center and graduated from the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program at the Jewish General Hospital in Montréal.
In the early 1980s, George moved to Burlington, Vt., with his family. In Vermont, George practiced at the University of Vermont’s Behavior Therapy and Psychotherapy Center, seeing patients and supervising graduate students. He then moved on to a part-time practice and as a part-time consulting psychologist at Howard Center. George was a valued friend, colleague and mentor to many in the area.
He is survived by his longtime partner, Thea Knight, of Burlington; daughter, Annie Fain Frost, her husband, Robert Frost, and granddaughter, Eleanor Joan Frost, all of Augusta, Ga.; son, Will Stoltenberg, of Arlington, Mass., and friend Anthony Polukin of Arlington, Mass.; brother, Dr. Calvin Stolberg, and his wife, Peggy, of Norman, Okla.; and sister, Sharan Stoltenberg, and husband, David Reinecke, of Schuyler, Neb. George also leaves behind friends, including Richard Moss of Burlington, Bill Butler and Ginger MacDonald of Colchester, Vt., and all the staff of Howard Center’s Pine Street Mental Health Center.
George was predeceased by Rev. Dr. Bruce Berggren of St. John Lutheran Church in Nebraska, who was a friend and guiding light in George’s youth and life.
His love for his children, Annie and Will, was evidenced through the years by many trips to the YMCA, summer Lake Monster baseball games, fun birthday parties, fabulous nine-foot Christmas tree celebrations, and many, many books shared together. George will be missed and remembered by the many patients he sadly leaves behind. May he rest in peace in a better place after a life of achievement, independence and courage.
Arrangements are by Elmwood-Meunier Funeral Home.